Cordova resident, a drug ring hit man, set for sentencing in Memphis

Cordova hit man says his acts were "horrific and life shattering"

From an onlooker's view, Orlando Mays seemed to be a success, living in an upscale Cordova home.

Neighbors likely had no idea the crimes the high school dropout from an impoverished neighborhood in Oakland, Calif., carried out, and what he was willing to do to keep this lifestyle.

Acting on a tip, a federal task force that included Memphis police and agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency had been watching Mays, and they closed in before he could carry out a series of revenge killings on behalf of the infamous and lethal Craig Petties cocaine-trafficking organization.

Mays had already received a partial payment to murder a Collierville resident and was helping plot two other revenge killings at the behest of Demetrius "Meat" Fields, one of Petties' lieutenants, according to court records.

During a search of Mays' home at the time of his arrest in June 2007, investigators found six handguns and an assault rifle.

Mays pleaded guilty four months later to weapons charges and racketeering involving the murder-for-hire plots. He has remained jailed for more than five years awaiting sentencing while prosecutors worked to prosecute more than 40 defendants to topple the deadly ring with ties to a volatile Mexican cartel.

The 33-year-old defendant sent the judge a lengthy handwritten letter, filed Tuesday by defense attorney Jerry Easter, asking for mercy and apologizing for his crimes.

During his federal jail stint, he has had time to mull over his actions, which he described as "horrific and life shattering." He hopes to get out of prison and become an over-the-road trucker, and to improve his relationship with his young daughter, his letter said.

Mays traced his poor choices back to his childhood "in an extremely hostile and crime invested area of Oakland," where he dropped out of school after his junior year. He said he began selling drugs at age 12, following the career path of his absentee father, who also is imprisoned.

"I did not do this to have money or material gains, I done it to survive," he wrote in his letter to the judge.

Mays later became addicted to pain killers he used after he got a broken arm and leg, injuries that required pins and rods. He didn't describe how he had been injured.

He said he settled in Memphis in 2005, illegally buying pain medicine on the streets. He didn't describe how he became entwined with the Petties ring.

"Nothing I can do, nor say, will change the severity and magnitude of it all," he wrote. "I am honestly sorry."

DEA Special Agent Abe Collins, in previous court filings, has described three murders Mays was supposed to carry out. None of the targets were killed.

Petties ordered the death of Collierville resident Vacha Vaughn, once a top Petties' associate, because he no longer trusted Vaughn.

Fields, one of Petties' key cocaine distributors, also hired Mays to kill a couple of Fields' enemies, Greg "Grego" Jones and Marcus "Head" Howell. Fields and Jones had quarreled over a woman while at a Memphis nightclub. Fields blamed Jones for retaliating by shooting one of Fields' friends in the buttocks and snatching a gold chain off Fields neck.

The federal task force intervened before those targets were harmed.

Mays' attorney filed a motion Tuesday saying Mays has cooperated with investigators and wasn't one of the major Petties' players.

According to his calculations, the federal sentencing guidelines applicable to Mays suggest a sentence between about 21 to 27 years, but Easter is asking the judge to go even lower.

But Prosecutor David Pritchard and the probation officer concluded that the guideline range for Mays is higher, based on Mays' lengthy criminal history that includes convictions for drug dealing, battery and forgery, according to the court motion. Documents that show their exact calculations remain sealed.

The judge sentenced Fields, of Germantown, to 37 years in a federal prison last month for his crimes, including racketeering, money laundering and cocaine trafficking.